Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has taken further steps to integrate its former legacy partnerships by extending its trainee secondment scheme to include Australia.

Australian graduates joining the firm in 2014 and 2015 will be given the option of working in London or Asia during their first two years, while trainees from legacy Herbert Smith offices will be able to take seats in Australia from September this year.

Five trainees from London and Asia will be able to take a secondment into Australia between September 2014 and March 2016, while three Australian graduates will be able to spend time in Asia and one in London.

The firm expects an increase in the number of placements once the scheme is reviewed at the end of 2015.

The secondments are likely to last around six months. London-based trainees will be required to spend their first six months in the UK before doing any international secondments.

Jason Ricketts, HSF's Australia managing partner, said priority will be given to offices and practices where there is a particular demand for lawyers or those which handle a higher amount of cross-border work.

He said: "One of the high priorities we had when we merged was to work out a secondment programme for Australian lawyers to get out into the global network. We will make sure this works well, and then expand the offering. I expect that the number is going to increase in subsequent years and potentially quite substantially."

The 2012 merger of Herbert Smith with Australia's Freehills created a firm with 24 offices located across the UK, Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and New York.

As well as voting through a new merit-based remuneration structure, the firm has ramped up its use of international secondments in a bid to more closely integrate its global business, increasing the number of employees on secondment around the world from 155 to 283 in 2012. The firm currently has 22 Australian lawyers and four partners on secondment to overseas offices and has had 46 secondments out of Australia post-merger.